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Laporte man severs fingers in demolition accident

Heather Corson dials Sanford Hospital in Bemidji to see if her husband's ambulance had arrived yet. (Sarah Smith / Enterprise)

A Laporte man was transported to the Bemidji hospital Monday afternoon when the crawler crane he was doing demolition work on tipped, pinning him temporarily.

There was no immediate condition on David Corson, 45. Eyewitnesses at the scene said after being rushed to Sanford Hospital, emergency crews used a pry bar to locate one of the work gloves Corson was wearing at the time of the accident.

It contained his severed fingers.

The glove was also rushed to the hospital in hopes the fingers could be surgically attached.

"He's lucky to be alive," said Heather Corson, looking at the tipped crane in the debris.

"Oh my gosh," she said.

The accident occurred in Farden Township off County Road 45 on property owned by Bruce Christianson, located just south of the Potlatch plant.

Hubbard County Dep. Chad Olson reported to one witness who remained at the scene, "He's at the hospital. The glove's at the hospital."

Heather Corson said her husband was doing some demolition work of a structure on the property. The accident occurred just after 2:30 p.m.

It was unknown if David Corson suffered any other injuries. The Koehring crane appeared to have fallen partially into the foundation of the structure after tipping.